căuta

See also: cauta

Romanian

Alternative forms

• căta — popular

Etymology

Inherited from Latin captō, captāre. Phonetically, it may have resulted from the merger of more than one Latin word originally; the variant form căta is likely derived from the Vulgar Latin form *cattāre (compare Spanish and Portuguese catar, Venetan catar), but various other etymologies have been proposed for the standard form: it has been considered by some as originating from or being influenced by a root *cavitāre, from cavitum, popular form of cautum, or from *cautāre, as a verbal derivative of cautus, or from *cabtāre, as an incorrect pronunciation of captāre, on the basis of a similar transformation from Latin in cases such as presbyter > Romanian preot. Compare also Aromanian caftu, cãftari.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kə.uˈta/, (commonly) /kəwˈta/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -a
• Hyphenation: că‧u‧ta

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

a căuta (third-person singular present caută, past participle căutat, third-person subjunctive caute) 1st conjugation

1. (transitive) to search (for), seek
2. (transitive, informal, chiefly in the negative) to have any business

   Ce cauți aici? ― What are you doing here?

   El nu are ce căuta în această casă.

   He has no business being in this house.

Conjugation

    conjugation of căuta (first conjugation, no infix)

infinitive			a căuta
gerund			căutând
past participle			căutat
number		singular			plural
person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
indicative		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	caut	cauți	caută	căutăm	căutați	caută
	imperfect	căutam	căutai	căuta	căutam	căutați	căutau
	simple perfect	căutai	căutași	căută	căutarăm	căutarăți	căutară
	pluperfect	căutasem	căutaseși	căutase	căutaserăm	căutaserăți	căutaseră
subjunctive		eu	tu	el/ea	noi	voi	ei/ele
	present	să caut	să cauți	să caute	să căutăm	să căutați	să caute
imperative		—	tu	—	—	voi	—
	affirmative		caută			căutați
	negative		nu căuta			nu căutați

Derived terms

• căutare

References

• “căuta”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026